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Phone Booth on DVDA ringing phone has to be answered. There’s just something about them. Occasionally, we all wish we hadn’t answered when we discover it’s a telemarketer or a “recruiter” for an online business, but Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) has someone much worse on the other end. The caller turns out to be a man upset with Stu’s lifestyle, and he tells him not to leave the phone booth or he’ll shoot him. Stu, thinking it’s all a prank, tells the caller where to go and hangs up, only to feel a bullet whiz by his shoulder. Realizing it’s for real, he stays in the booth and plays along helplessly as his life is turned upside down. Things get worse when the sniper kills a bouncer and Stu is accused. The cops show up and tell him to get out of the booth, but if he does, he’ll be killed. What’s a man to do? You wouldn’t think a movie set almost entirely in a phone booth could really go anywhere, but writer Larry Cohen has managed to pen a highly original and equally engrossing film. Anyone who says there’s nothing new in Hollywood these days needs only to watch Phone Booth. It also features an excellent performance by Hollywood’s biggest rising star, Colin Farrell. The role is difficult: it requires us to dislike the character at first, but still want him to triumph in the end. He may be a jerk, but he’s a vulnerable jerk who, deep down, is not as bad as he comes across. Not many actors could pull it off so effectively. The addition of Kiefer Sutherland as the sniper is also a nice touch. Few actors have a voice that is naturally as creepy (except maybe Ted Levine or Scott Glenn), so it doesn’t take us long to realize that this guy is truly psychotic and means business. Katie Holmes and Radha Mitchell are also along for the ride, but don’t really have anything to do but watch the events unfold. Joel Schumacher, who should forever be known as the guy who massacred the Batman series, shows us that he can do a good job with movies as long as they don’t involve the caped crusader. At a mere 81 minutes, Phone Booth sucks you in and lets you go ommended. Even though it was fairly successful at the box office (made for only $16 million, it rang up nearly $50 million in sales domestically), the DVD is not a special edition by any means. The disc features both 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) and Pan&Scan transfers (on opposite sides – the way it should be), and the picture quality is fairly crisp and clear. Colors are rich and fleshtones are generally pretty good, though some of the paler faces do appear to be drowned out a bit. There is also a tiny bit of halo effect, particularly around Katie Holmes. Could she be an angel? The audio (5.1 Dolby Digital) is excellent, making better use of surrounds than many movies that have better use for them. Most of the dialogue from the onscreen characters, as well as a majority of the sound effects all come from the front channels, but Kiefer Sutherland’s eerie voice manages to creep from all five channels at once, creating a very nice effect. Occasional sound effects and the score by Harry Gregson-Williams also use the rear surrounds quite well. The only extra on the disc (other than the theatrical trailer) is a commentary by Joel Schumacher. He has an interesting sense of humor that often comes across as very witty and sarcastic. There’s a lot for him to talk about, particularly the troubles of the shoot (they had only ten days and a fairly small budget), but he also talks about the cast, especially Farrell. It’s a very nice commentary, but more making-of footage would have been nice (though we guess for only a ten day shoot there wouldn’t be much of it). Phone Booth, from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
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